Limmel Lock PPP reaches financial close, the Netherlands

The €35 million Limmel Lock public-private partnership (PPP) project near Maastricht in the Netherlands has reached financial close. Mott MacDonald was lender’s technical advisor to the Keersluis Limmel Companyon the project.

The new barrage lock will replace the existing lock which is nearly 100 years old and offer access to the Juliana canal, an important navigational route between Limmel and Maasbracht. It is being broadened and deepened to enable larger canal barges to use this route in the future.

Mott MacDonald provided due diligence and technical reports to support financial close and will now monitor construction in an ongoing role to help the project stay on programme and budget.

Joost van Loon, Mott MacDonald’s project director, said: “This project builds on Mott MacDonald’s previous infrastructure experience in the Netherlands and Belgium, where we are one of the leading providers of technical advice having worked on over 20 PPP schemes.”

Hidde Siemonsma, financial manager at Keersluis Limmel Company, added: “Mott MacDonald did an excellent job of informing the lenders on the risk profile of the project. This was particularly challenging as the contractual project finance framework, including the amended design, build, finance and maintain agreement, was market tested for the first time on this project. As a result, we were comfortable that the lenders had a thorough understanding of the project and did not see major obstacles providing the debt financing.”

The new Limmel Lock is expected to be complete in 2018, which will be followed by a 30-year maintenance period.